The DeGRAFF FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH
State Route 235/ 100 East Miami Street
DeGraff, Ohio 43318
Phone: (937) 585-4463
James R. Roby, Pastor
"The Sinner Driven Church"
by Pastor James Roby
Over and over in the scriptures, Jesus warns us to ‘beware.’ Many have chosen to ignore the Savior’s admonition, always to their own harm and detriment. The Bible says "that in the last days perilous times shall come." (2 Tim 3:1). We are living in the very midst of those evil, perilous times. Men are being used by Satan to introduce damaging practices into once-strong churches, thus ruining them and making them totally ineffective in bringing the Lord glory. This is all done under the guise of church growth and drawing bigger crowds. The Sinner Driven Church is all about self, ME, fleshly lusts, and human preference. Called the "Purpose Driven Church, it is in reality, the local church with hat in hand promising the lost sinner 'We'll give you whatever you want if you'll just come to our church.' This is beyond sad! Here are some of the false ideas that are being sold to the gullible church crowd:
1). CHANGE BIBLES. They claim that the church must change "with the times" in order to be effective. We must get rid of our old King James Bible and replace it with new, updated versions. We can’t be "seeker-sensitive" and "user- friendly" if we stick with an old out-dated Bible. According to men like Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, most of the King James Version is just too hard to understand, and some of it is just plain offensive to the modern man. If we are ever going to win them, we are going to have to get a Bible that they like and enjoy. These men use 15-20 different versions in the churches where they pastor. There is a major problem with this line of thinking, however. The Bible was not given for men to approve of...it was given to reveal the will of God and the truth of God! We might draw a bigger crowd if we use a more ‘sensitive, politically correct’ handbook... BUT IT WILL NOT BE THE WORD OF GOD! "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God..." (1 Thes 2:13). How pitiful that there are thousands of preachers willing to toss the Bible aside in an effort find a version that would be "more pleasing to the seeker?!" This alone should cause the Bible believer to reject the whole Purpose Driven plan!
Another area of change calls for us to...
2.) CHANGE THE WORSHIP. According to the Purpose Driven advocates, we will never win anybody with old outdated church music! Hymns and older songs just don’t appeal to the modern crowd. Rick Warren even states that the desire to use traditional music is a form of racism! This is truly how far these men will go to bring pressure upon churches to change! He says that churches must change to a rock and roll format...the louder the better! Advocates of the Purpose Driven error state that we must change the music in our church services so that it sounds like the music that lost people listen to in the world. One of the problems with gearing the music towards the crowd is that we are supposed to be worshipping GOD, not pleasing the crowd! Our worship should be designed to praise HIM, not entertain the lost folks we lure into our church! "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." (Gal 1:10). This so-called Contemporary Worship limits the sermon to about 15 minutes on a topic of interest to the unchurched. (Messages like ‘How to Handle Your Finances,’ ‘How To Make Friends,’ ‘How To Improve Your Self-esteem,’ etc.). Much of the preaching is replaced by skits and dramatic productions. We are called by these false teachers to adjust the meaning of scripture so that we are saying basically the same thing that the world is saying. We should never preach anything that would make the lost people who visit our services uncomfortable! the sinner must never be reminded of his lost condition, or that he is a sinner, or that he needs a Savior. Cantatas and Religious Pageants replace most of the congregational singing. Interpretive dancing, cell groups and recreational activities replace the Biblical mandate for the whole body to assemble together to hear the preaching of the Word. We are told to make church no different from other places that lost people may go. "...meddle not with them that are given to change" (Prov 24:21). When it comes to God’s Word and God’s ways...change is a BAD thing! "Thus saith the Lord. Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS, where is the GOOD WAY, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein". (Jer 6:16). If you read just a little further in Jeremiah 6, God tells us what the old paths are, "...because they have not hearkened unto My words, nor to My law, but rejected it." (Jer 6:19).
When people refuse to listen to God’s Word and, instead, do things their own way...trouble follows. "Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb. So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrites hope shall perish: Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web. He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure." (Job 8:12-15). Those who follow paths other than God’s paths, are destined to fail. Their greenness (life) shall wither like the rush and the flag (v- 11), plants who do not have proper soil or water. Their trust will be a "spider web." That which they have built, will not hold them up any better than a spider web would! He shall lean on his house (that which he has built, (1 Cor 3:10-15), and it will not stand or endure (v-15). All of this because they "forget God" and program Him right out of their churches! The Contemporary Worship crowd wants to drive churches to blend the church and the world so that one won't be any different than the other! Warren says that the unchurched will only attend our services if their "felt needs" are met. Give them what they want, and they might just come. Remember, Jesus did not say, "Go ye into all the world and tell them what they want to hear." He said we should preach the gospel, call them to repentance and salvation. This is because God is opposed to this world system, and intends to save people OUT OF IT! "...our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God our Father." (Galations 1:3-4).
Other dangerous trends that the Sinner Driven Church is promoting include:
3.) THE IDEA THAT FAITH IS A FORCE THAT CAN WORK FOR YOU. They teach that faith is a generic force. It can be utilized to get you anything you want. This teaching parallels that of Robert Schuller and Norman Vincent Peale, and basically says that faith is mind over matter, positive thinking...’if you can conceive it, you can achieve it.’ This makes the Christian little more than a magician manipulating ‘faith’ for personal gain. The trouble with this type of thinking is that Biblical faith is intricately linked to the Word of God. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." (Ro 10:17). Rather than the Purpose Driven Technique of getting God to do our bidding (thus making God the servant, and us the Lord!), the Bible reveals the will of God to us. We can determine what God wants us to have by searching the scriptures. As we see His will in the Bible, our faith is quickened to believe for the things He has promised. Instead of ME getting what I want, faith’s purpose is to seek God's will and long for Him to accomplish what HE wants in my life! If God didn’t promise it, we don’t need it!
If we follow the Purpose Driven path, God will become less the object of our desires, and will be replaced by the things we want from Him. That is sad. Yes! God will give us the desires of our hearts, but He should BE the desire of our hearts!
4.) HUMANISTIC THEORIES OF PSYCHOLOGY play a major role in the Sinner Driven church. Pop psychology, counseling, rock music, marketing methods, gimmicks, motivational speeches, etc. are the new methods of this false movement. Unfortunately, the self-centeredness and passion for pleasure of Sigmund Freud and company have captured the hearts of church folks to the point where fleshly activities have become the main objective of church gatherings. Individual expression, self-discovery, self- realization, and self-fulfillment have replaced a hungering and thirsting for God.
This new Purpose Driven/Contemporary religion is fun, relaxing, laid back, and NEVER demanding! It promises what it could never deliver. Men can only find real life and meaning in serving the Lord Jesus Christ and denying self. Take up your cross, brother! Take up your cross and Follow Him! (Matthew 16:24-25). Let’s stay true to God and His Word. We’ll be glad we did!
Truth, not Tolerance
Is GOD A Wall Buster?
by Pastor James R. Roby
The major focus of the ecumenical movement is to "tear down the walls that divide denominations" and "get everybody together." This refrain is chanted like a mantra by Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Lutherans, Mormons, etc. as church groups...once separated...come together for ‘worship and fellowship.’ Sadly, this false unity ignores the reasons for denominational division by neatly laying them all aside. Some divisions between Christians are unnecessary...but most of them are based on differences of belief, and are doctrinal. For example, Is a Pentecostal Church different from an independent, Bible-believing church? The answer is yes, because of different doctrine... they believe differently! One teaches that you must speak in tongues to be Spirit-filled, while the other believes that tongues has absolutely nothing to do with the filling of the Holy Spirit. One believes in being ‘slain in the Spirit’ while the other believes that ‘spirit slaying’ is totally unscriptural and demonic! One believes that salvation is partially attained by works; the other believes that we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ apart from works.
What about the differences between the Roman Catholics and the Bible-believers? One believes that salvation is "begun" by being sprinkled...and then is "kept" by joining the Catholic Church, confessing to the priest, praying to Mary and the "saints," and doing a stint in Purgatory. This in contrast to the Bible believer who believes that we are saved by what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. One says that salvation is a free gift while the other sees it as an attainment. Protestants and Catholics believe in a church hierarchy while Bible believers adhere to an independent local church. Catholics/Protestants have Popes and Priests or Bishops and Overseers while the Bible believer believes that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church. Catholics and Protestants believe in baptismal regeneration, baby sprinkling, etc. while the Bible believers hold to baptism as a symbol for those already saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
We could contrast serious differences in various denominations and church groups all day. But, it is obvious that these differences are too large to be ignored by a slogan like "Busting Down the Walls." Those who are calling for the removal of denominational differences are ignoring how serious these differences in belief really are. Bible truth is worth fighting for, and we have no right to compromise and water down what God has said in His Word. When the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and instructed him in how to Pastor a church, he did not tell him to tear down the walls, ignore doctrinal differences, and get together with other religious groups. Instead, he told him to hold fast to Bible doctrine and make sure that no false doctrine was permitted. "As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach NO OTHER DOCTRINE." (1 Timothy 1:3). "And the same things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, THE SAME commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). We are also told to "earnestly contend for the faith" (Jude 3). To be honest, those who have the most to lose from tearing down denominational walls are not the liberals, or those espousing false doctrine...they are already messed up. The one who loses the most is the one whose doctrine is based upon the Word of God. He will be pressured to lay aside precious truth for the sake of not offending the other "busters of walls." jrr
